Imagine sailing on a tall ship of the coast of Brazil. Imagine teaching English and drama to Tibetan refugee kids living in Nepal. Imagine starting up a summer program to help the children of new immigrants to our cities connect better with their peers and their cities. Imagine spending a month at an intensive youth leadership institutute of the West Coast.

Traditinally, the summer months are an opportunity to take some time off, or get a job.

But you can also chose to participate in one of many programs such as those listed above that will help you develop by offering you vastly different experiences then you can get in the school year, while having lots of fun. And such summer programs can also be a great forerunner to taking a gap year for even more enriched experiences.

Click here to search for summer programs.